Comparing "The Great Gatsby" and "Park Avenue": Money, Power, and American Dream

The two texts “The Great Gatsby”, a novel by F.Scott Fitzgerald, and the social documentary, “Park Avenue – Money, Power and the American Dream”, present a serious accusation of the disparity of wealth in the Roaring Twenties and the present time, these both represent symbolism and identities. Audiences are placed to critically see the philosophy that Americans are brainwashing society with and have been for decades now. Money brings happiness and everything that comes with happiness, if you work diligently you’ll automatically be rewarded with success and happiness in life. The idea of the American Dream is that no matter what level of class you were born into or what class you currently are, you have the opportunity to attain your own success. The gap between the lower class and upper class and the advantages and disadvantages on the economic ladder, social status and equality depend on their background, their location of birth, their family history, and consequently their education and career pathway.

Throughout the Great Gatsby, it is made clear that the protagonist of the novel Jay Gatsby is shown falling in love with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby wants Daisy so bad that anything that comes in between them becomes the antagonist. Class differences, societal expectations and Gatsby’s past lies are the strong antagonists. At the beginning of the novel, Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby’s neighbour, and also the novel's narrator informs the audience that located at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock, barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn lies the green light. The green light symbolizes hopes and dreams, specifically Gatsby’s. But also illustrates money and the greed people have because of it. The light was a sense of love for Gatsby because he knew Daisy was at the other end. This is how Fitzgerald used the light to symbolize love as-well as many other important aspects. Gatsby has acquired great wealth from his illegal activities but he is still shut out of the upper classes by those who were born into wealth. Daisy is described as “the golden girl” although the green light is associated with her, Daisy likes to associate herself with gold and silver, the more enduring forms of currency. Therefore the green light portrays the money that is available for people like Gatsby, the kind of people that will do anything to attain it, compared to people like Daisy, who have inherited wealth, is out of reach. There is a reason why the green light is green and not just a regular white light, this is because green is the colour of greed and power. Fitzgerald had the green light specifically belong to Daisy because of her greediness for money and empowerment. In the novel Gatsby and Nick are having a conversation about Daisy, Gatsby clearly says “Her voice is full of money” (pg. 120), this shows the audience the kind of character Daisy is and what she believes money can do for her. Greed causes nobility, lack of wisdom, kindness and love, four things that Daisy was caught up in. Daisy married a man for his money and not for his love. She was incapable of love.

“The gulf between the rich and the poor is beginning to resemble the Grand Canyon”, the narrator, Alex Gibney says in the documentary Park Avenue, to compare and use as a metaphor for the immoral inequities of capitalism. Americans' richest citizens have “rigged the game in their favour”, and created unprecedented inequality in the United States. The wealthy bribe politicians through lobbying in order to help their interests. On one side of Park Avenue, in the South Bronx people are living on the streets and those who have a roof over their head are struggling to survive and provide day-to-day. The people living on this side are involved in a system designed by those living on the other side. This means that no matter how hard they work for it, they’ll never have the opportunity to have the access and privileges to the most simple things that others do. South Bronx is definitely the more lower class, there is money invested into the town but the money is concentrated into the hands of a few. This is causing them to have 1 of the highest infant mortality rates in the United States, access to educational resources are low, and student attendance at schools is below the American Educational guidelines and is continuing to drop because family’s do not have the support to provide for their families. This all comes back to wealth, power, and control, which leads us to the other side of Park Avenue, Manhattan. You see an insight of the poisonous role that money plays in politics. Children are provided with the best, prestige educational facilities, and have an equal chance of opportunities. Gibney associates wealth with amorality and poverty with noble striving. Throughout the film, the board game ‘monopoly’ is used as a ‘experiment’ to exhibit the cruel characteristics of being in control with money. This was a symbol of the American Dream that promises ‘equal opportunity’ for all. The game was far from fair, but it was set out that way to see what sort of traits these players would show when provided with such entitlement. Those in the game who were handed a large amount of fake money began to act hostile towards the players with less fake money. Although the two Park Avenues are geographically minutes apart, when we compare economic differences and their prospects for achieving the American Dream, you’d think they were a third-war country.

Between both the novel, the Great Gatsby and the documentary, Park Avenue: Money, power and the American Dream, there are many similarities between the characters, symbolism and especially the setting. In the novel and film, they both use the river as a metaphor. This is to divide the lower class from the upper class. In the film, the Hudson River is compared to a “deep and forbidding moat” meaning it is a barrier promoting the poor from crossing. A moat is designed to protect the rich/wealthy by keeping intruders out, so by calling the river a moat means the more fortunate believe those on the other side of the river are not welcome and emphasizes the divide between the rich and poor. In the novel, the Great Gatsby both East and West Egg are wealthy communities. Those families who inherited wealth are located on the more “fashionable” East Egg. Whereas in West Egg, residents whose wealth has been worked for, like Gatsby’s belong on the other side because they weren’t born into the wealth.

Money is a huge motivator in the Fitzgeralds Novel and Alex Gibney documentary. Both of which are driven by their desire, money, and materialistic things. Daisy marries Tom because of his lifestyle and what he can provide for her, South Bronx are left struggling with very little to nonaccess to resources or opportunities because of place of birth. Social stratification is a major role that is played in American society. Through social stratification, people are categorized into specific categories which are than divided into different statuses and sections. This is decided on the Americans' income, location of birth and background. The poor are affected by the low socio-economic.